FILE PHOTO: League party leader Matteo Salvini speaks to the media during the second day of consultations with Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, Italy, April 5, 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi/File Photo
May 4, 2018
ROME (Reuters) – Far-right League leader Matteo Salvini said on Friday any stopgap government to take Italy to new elections must be led by a center-right politician who rejects current European Union budget rules.
President Sergio Mattarella will meet party leaders on Monday to try to secure a coalition deal following an inconclusive March 4 election, but failing that, is expected to seek backing for a technocrat government to help keep Italy’s finances on track.
Salvini told reporters the League would back a short-term government with a six-month lifespan if the cabinet were made up of politicians, not technocrats and if it agrees to “completely re-write” Italy’s relations with the European Union.
He said the center-left Democratic Party must be no part of the government and he wanted it to include the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement. 5-Star has this week demanded a re-vote in June and ruled out any stopgap government.
(Reporting by Gavin Jones; Editing by Crispian Balmer)
